Winter morning
by Eressie
Summary: Aragorn's peaceful morning is interrupted by a certain blond elf. One-shot. Non-slash.


Winter morning

By: Eressie

Disclaimer: Since I am not the genius Tolkien, obviously, I do not own LOTR.

Summery: Aragorn's peaceful morning is interrupted by a certain blond elf.

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It was early in the morning still and Aragorn sat quietly on a bench in Elrond's garden in Rivendell, enjoying his pipe and the surrounding stillness. The sun had not risen high but already it warmed his skin and the winter air. The man's eyes were closed and his face was tilted upwards towards the sun. He wore many thin layers of clothing, keeping him warm and comfortable. He drew his coat closer around him and took a deep breath. He opened his eyes as he breathed out and he saw his breath in the cold air.

It was quiet, maybe too quiet considering where he was. He frowned, the peace in his face transformed into worry. Nothing is ever this calm when the twins or Legolas where in Rivendell at the same time as he. He looked around suspiciously, but no trouble could be seen and nothing looked out of order. He raised an eyebrow in thought; maybe just this day would be trouble free? Maybe today was the day that he could sit here with his pipe without being victimized by the elves' pranks?

A snowball hit him in his chest, startled him from his thoughts.  
He rose from his seat and looked around, trying to find the one who threw the snowball. No such luck.  
No other snowballs followed and he furrowed his brow, his senses alert. All of the sudden, out of the stillness from the trees flew a blur of green and brown; slamming into his back. Aragorn fell with a yelp down into the snow; face first. The sudden cold in his face woke him up from the chock. He felt someone sitting on his back, a light someone; telling him that it was definitely an elf. Silver laughter filled the air and Aragorn needed no more clues of who his attacker was.

"Legolas, you son of an orch!" the man shouted and bucked the laughing elf off him.

The elf landed on his back beside the man who was now covered in snow. The elf laughed harder when the man sat up and glared at him with snow covering his hair and beard. Aragorn gathered snow in his hands and threw at the elf, who ducked away from it. The man quickly got up and threw himself at the elf.

A fierce wrestling match had begun with snow flying around them. Their lively game and load yelling made many look their way to see what all the fuss was about. But as they realised it was the blond elven prince and the ranger; they rolled their eyes and continued with what they were doing. It was quite a normal view to see them get in trouble and behave like children after all.  
The playful fight ended when Legolas held Aragorn down on the snow covered ground. The elf was sitting on top of the ranger, straddling him and holding the man's arms in place. The elf grinned down at the glaring ranger who was unable to move.

"Do you yield?" asked Legolas softly.

Aragorn grunted and tried to get away from the all too happy immortal. Realising he could not get anywhere he decided to try another tactic. He faked a pained expression on his face and let out a silent whimper. The elf's grin changed into a concerned frown and he loosened his grip on the ranger. The ranger's pained expression disappeared instantly and he pushed the elf off him. Legolas landed on his back and before he had time to react, the ranger had reversed their places and sat now on top of the elf.

"You said something?" asked the ranger sweetly, smiling down at the elf beneath him.

"No…" Legolas mumbled with a glare.

"No? I though I heard you ask me if I yield." the ranger chuckled. "What say you now when our roles have been reversed, hm?"

"Get off me."

"Not the words I'm looking for, dearest." smirked the man.

Legolas snorted and tried to get the ranger off him, but failed. "You tried a dirty trick." he said and lay still, glaring at the man on top of him.

"I did what I had to do," the ranger said. "I have been raised to always do the best I can."

"…are you getting off me any time soon?" said the elf with a glare.

"Are you going to yield any time soon?"

"Never!"

"Then I will be bothering you by not letting you go for quite some time more then." Aragorn said with a smile.

Legolas tilted his head to the side. "I bet I can wait more than you can though." he said. "You're covered in snow and I bet you are freezing already, it will only get worse if you sit still here out in the cold."

"Thankfully, I'm sitting on something warm so I don't freeze then."

Silence fell between them and they glared at each other, none of them ready to give up.

"You're going to catch a cold." said the elf.

"And it will be your fault." said the ranger.

Legolas rolled his eyes. "Fine." he said with a sigh.

"Fine, what?" asked the man smugly.

"Fine… I yield." the elf mumbled.

"Ha, finally!" laughed Aragorn and stood up, offering his hand to Legolas to help him up. Legolas reached up and gripped the ranger's hand. He got up but as soon as he was back up on his feet, he grabbed Aragorn and flipped him back down on the ground.

Aragorn landed with a thud, he gasped and looked up at Legolas with a shocked expression that made Legolas laugh.

"I can't believe you did that." Aragorn said, still looking shocked.

"You would have done the same to me if the roles where reversed." said the elf with a snort.

Aragorn shrugged with a smirk and held up his hand. "Are you going to help me up?"

Legolas tilted his head. "Are you going to flip me?"

"I'm not as rotten as you," he said with a smirk, "I would never do such a thing."

"Hm, not sure if I believe you."

Aragorn looked hurt. "You are always supposed to believe in me!"

Legolas laughed. "Says who?"

Aragorn shrugged. "Says the secret brotherly code."

"If it's secret, how come you know about it." wondered the elf.

Aragorn smiled. "Because it's a code that all brothers know about, it's not written or talked about; it is here." he said and laid his hand on his chest over his heart.

Legolas rolled his eyes. "It's too early in the morning to be sentimental, Estel."

Aragorn chuckled and raised his hand higher. "Help me?"

Legolas sighed and grabbed the ranger's hand. "Always."

As soon as both were back on their feet, Legolas took a step back; in case Aragorn decided to throw him down into the snow despite his promise not to.

Aragorn snorted as the elf backed away. "Don't you trust me, elf?"

"With my life," Legolas replied," –most of the time." he added with a laugh.

Aragorn stepped closer and tried to smack the elf on the back of his head but Legolas was faster and ducked from Aragorn's attack.

"Don't duck." Aragorn protested.

Legolas laughed. "What? So you can hit me?"

"Yes!" Aragorn exclaimed.

"What for? I have only been a pleasant and kind elf who has done nothing to deserve to be the target of such violent action." Legolas said, looking hurt.

"Kind indeed…" Aragorn snorted. "You ruined a perfect morning. I was having a wonderful smoke by myself in peace, and the next thing I know; I'm covered in ice cold snow with a gleeful elf sitting on top of me!"

Legolas laughed. "Your morning can't be perfect without me around!" he said. "How boring, just sitting there and smoking by yourself! Are you getting old, Estel?"

Aragorn gasped. "I am not old!"

"Really?" Legolas said and poked him on the arm. "Your boring grown up actions says otherwise."

"What's wrong with wanting some peace and quiet once in a while?" protested the ranger and swapped away the elf's hand.

Legolas shrugged. "Nothing is wrong with it… if you're Mithrandir."

Aragorn raised an eyebrow. "You're comparing me with Mithrandir? He is ancient."

"My point exactly." the elf nodded with a smile.

Aragorn tried to hit Legolas again, this time he succeeded and he laughed triumphantly.

"Estel, that hurt!" Legolas said and pouted.

"You deserve it!" he said with a laugh.

Legolas glared. "Human."

"Elf."

Silence fell once more as they stood and brushed away snow from their clothes. The sun had disappeared behind the quick forming clouds and it had started to snow.  
The elf and ranger looked at each other. "Truce." they said simultaneously and nodded. They pulled their coats closer around themselves and started to walk towards Elrond's home.

Suddenly Aragorn frowned. "When did you arrive here anyway? Elladan said that we would see you first next week."

Legolas smiled. "I arrived last night, you were already asleep I was told. Old men need their sleep apparently."

"Hey…" Aragorn warned with a smile.

Legolas laughed. "And I am early because I knew you all missed me here," he said with a smirk. "…and my father did no longer need me in his presence."

"In other words; you ran away." Aragorn said simply.

Legolas pulled a face. "I would not call it that."

"But that is its true name."

"I left a note."

"That little piece of paper wont help you much." said the ranger with a smirk. "You are pretty much doomed when your father finds out."

Legolas paled. "Maybe he won't?" he wondered hopefully.

"Hm? That his only son just disappeared from his side one day and that his horse and travelling pack disappeared with him?" Aragorn wondered. "You are right, he won't notice; because we all know how little he loves you and that he could not care less about you."

The elf glared at him. "You're not helping."

"I'm not trying to help." chuckled the ranger.

"What happened to the brotherly code?"

"What about it?" shrugged the ranger.

"Does the code not say anything about brothers helping each other out when in need?"

"Hm, not so sure if that still counts if said brother is about to be victimized by a father's wrath." Aragorn said and scratched his bearded chin.

Legolas glared. "It counts." he said. "Especially if the brother to the victimized brother does still want that alibi on where he was that night when that wild horse got into the hall of fire last year." he smiled mischievously. "You know the horse that destroyed pretty much everything in its way? Including that five thousand year old vase, invaluable and-"

"Ah!" Aragorn exclaimed and laid his arm around Legolas shoulders. "My dear, sweet brother! Of coarse I'll stand by your side, forever!" he said with a nervous laugh. "Whatever dangerous fate is set upon you, I'll be there facing it with you. Together until the end of time!"

Legolas chuckled. "I thought so."

Aragorn shook his head, with a smile. "We would be in such deep trouble if we did not look out for each other, would we not?"

Legolas nodded and bit his lip. "Indeed. We would probably be long time dead."

"Let's keep us alive and healthy for many years yet, shall we?" Aragorn said with a smile.

"Yes," Legolas agreed and nodded, but paled as he looked towards the house. "Do you have a good plan on how we should keep us alive and healthy right this minute?"

"What?" Aragorn wondered and looked at him.

Legolas grabbed the man's shin and made him look towards the front door to his home. There on the steps to the front door stood Lord Elrond together with Glorfindel and Erestor. All wearing curious and questioning expression upon their faces.

"Um," began the ranger, looking very unsure and nervous, "technically… we have done nothing wrong… right?" whispered the ranger to the elf.

Legolas nodded and pulled on his collar, trying to loosen it up. "We're perfectly innocent. No one is hurt or in trouble and nothing is out of order. Everything is intact." he whispered back.

They walked closer to the elven lords with hesitant slow steps.

"But then again," Legolas began. "They'll probably find _something_ that they can blame on us and make it look much bigger than it is."

"You're right," Aragorn whispered. "Why else would they all be here waiting for us like this? And also... you did run away from home."

Legolas paled. "Estel, hush!" he said. "We are quite near now."

"...and they have perfect elven hearing." Aragorn's eyes widened.

"They can hear us." they mouthed simultaneously with a panicked looks upon their faces.

The dark haired lord stepped forward towards them with a frown. "Young prince," Elrond's deep voice silenced the two younger beings before him, and made them freeze where they stood, "what is this I hear about you running away from home… again?"

Legolas bit his lip, glancing at the man beside him; silently asking him what they should do.

Aragorn glanced back, he opened his mouth and whispered; "Um, run?"

End

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